Long-running emo rock outfit Sparta returned with Trust the River last year, but now frontman Jim Ward (who has also had tenure in At the Drive-In and Sleepercar) has announced plans for a new solo album.
The record is called Daggers and was written during the pandemic, with Ward working on the tunes every night. Rather than record it entirely alone, however, he enlisted the help of Incubus bassist Ben Kenney and Thursday drummer Tucker Rule to round out the lineup.
"My friends did this for the pure love of making music with a friend," Ward said of Kenney and Rule. "There's no higher compliment. I don't know how I'll repay them."
Ward has previewed the album with "Paper Fish," a new song that can be streamed below. Of the track, he said, "'Paper Fish' was the last song I wrote for Daggers. It seemed like it was the final piece of a puzzle I had been working on. It is rare for me to sit down, write and then sing something almost completely in one take but that is what happened on this song.
"It was as if the process of making this record allowed me to finally break through and say exactly what I was trying to say. Life is a journey and for me that journey is 100 percent about being a better person. I think about and work towards this every day. When I die, I want to die the best man I've ever been."
Daggers will arrive on June 11 via Dine Alone.
Daggers:
1. Day By Day
2. Blink Twice
3. Electric Life
4. Paper Fish
5. I Got A Secret
6. Keep On Failure
7. Polygraph (Attack)
8. Foreign Currency
9. Safe Pair Of Hands
10. King Yourself
The record is called Daggers and was written during the pandemic, with Ward working on the tunes every night. Rather than record it entirely alone, however, he enlisted the help of Incubus bassist Ben Kenney and Thursday drummer Tucker Rule to round out the lineup.
"My friends did this for the pure love of making music with a friend," Ward said of Kenney and Rule. "There's no higher compliment. I don't know how I'll repay them."
Ward has previewed the album with "Paper Fish," a new song that can be streamed below. Of the track, he said, "'Paper Fish' was the last song I wrote for Daggers. It seemed like it was the final piece of a puzzle I had been working on. It is rare for me to sit down, write and then sing something almost completely in one take but that is what happened on this song.
"It was as if the process of making this record allowed me to finally break through and say exactly what I was trying to say. Life is a journey and for me that journey is 100 percent about being a better person. I think about and work towards this every day. When I die, I want to die the best man I've ever been."
Daggers will arrive on June 11 via Dine Alone.
Daggers:
1. Day By Day
2. Blink Twice
3. Electric Life
4. Paper Fish
5. I Got A Secret
6. Keep On Failure
7. Polygraph (Attack)
8. Foreign Currency
9. Safe Pair Of Hands
10. King Yourself